SALINAS VALLEY — At the start of divisional play, the Soledad Aztec girls’ and Gonzales Spartan boys’ teams are playing excellent soccer.
The Lady Aztecs are 8-1 overall and 1-0 in the Gabilan Division, and the Spartans are 7-2-2 overall in the Cypress Division after winning three games in a row.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
At home on Jan. 9, the Soledad girls won a 5-2 contest against the Hollister Haybalers.
Aztec goalie Mariana Leon had nine saves, Giselle Zepeda scored two goals, Michelle Campos had one goal and Nichole Gonzalez had two assists. Vanessa Aguilar had one goal and an assist, and Myrin Amilpa had one goal and one assist.
Gonzales High girls opened the Cypress Division with a 2-1 loss to Seaside on Jan. 8 and a 1-1 tie with Robert Louis Stevenson on Jan. 10.
In the Seaside contest, Mia Delgado scored the Spartan goal off an assist by Alessandra Tejeda-Ochoa. At the Stevenson game, Tejeda scored the Gonzales goal and Areli Calderon-Mancera was credited with nine saves.
Gonzales has a record of 1-6-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Cypress.
King City is 0-1 in the Cypress and 3-4 overall after a 5-1 home loss to the Greenfield Bruins. Jasmin Reyes scored the lone Mustang goal.
The Lady Mustangs had two other games scheduled last week; however, their game with Santa Catalina was rescheduled and they were awarded a forfeit win as Pacific Grove was unable to field a varsity team.
Greenfield is 3-0 in the Cypress as they began 2025 with the win over King City, a 2-1 victory against Palma and handed Seaside a 5-0 loss.
The Bruins’ Destiny Hernandez, Aideliz Moreno, Aundrea Sanchez, Brianna Chavez and Alexeen Sanchez scored in the King City game. Against Palma, Miranda Campos and Hernandez scored the Bruin goals.
In the 5-0 shutout against Seaside, Moreno scored three goals for Greenfield, while Hernandez and Aaliyah Ortiz scored solo goals. Kimberly Zavala made 14 saves and Alexeen Sanchez and Aundrea Sanchez earned assists.
In games this week, Soledad played at Santa Catalina on Monday and will host Watsonville on Wednesday night and Salinas on Friday; Gonzales hosted King City at Rabobank on Tuesday and plays at Palma on Thursday night; King City plays at Stevenson on Friday; Greenfield has two home games this week, hosting Santa Catalina on Tuesday and Pacific Grove on Thursday.
BOYS’ SOCCER
The Gonzales boys are 3-0 at the start of play in the Cypress Division. On Jan. 6, the Spartans defeated North Monterey County 5-2, with three goals and two assists by Jorge Uribe, two goals and one assist by Edgar Santiago and two assists by Jose Camacho.
In their second game of the week, Gonzales claimed a 3-2 win against Monte Vista Christian. Uribe scored one goal and had an assist, while Omar Gonzales and Ulisses Mancillas scored solo goals. Mancillas and Jose Camacho assisted on two goals.
Gonzales shut out Ceiba College Prep on Friday, 3-0. Miguel Ibarra, Mancillas and Santiago scored the Gonzales goals, while Gonzales and Emmanual Valdez earned assists. Luis Cabada and Isaiah Esquivel teamed up for the shutout as goalies.
Soledad played three games this week, finishing with a 2-2 tie with Ceiba. Jason Rico and Carlos Bautista scored the Aztec goals, and Rico assisted on one goal and Christian Romero assisted on another goal.
In their second game, the Aztecs lost 2-0 to the Carmel Padres and finished with a 1-1 tie against Pacific Collegiate. Rico scored the Soledad goal on an assist by Dominic Avalos.
King City Mustangs played just one game last week in the Mission Division, finishing with a 0-0 tie at home against the Watsonville Wildcatz.
Greenfield lost consecutive games to start the Gabilan Division. The Bruins had a 6-1 home loss to Hollister on Jan. 6, and were shut out 5-0 on the road against the Everett Alvarez Eagles.
The Bruins re-grouped and defeated the Seaside Spartans by a 2-0 score last Friday on the road. Alex Sanchez and Braulio Zuniga scored the Bruin goals.
In boys’ soccer games this week, Gonzales played Tuesday at Carmel and will host Pacific Collegiate on Thursday; Soledad plays Thursday at Monte Vista Christian; King City has a busy week as they played at Rancho San Juan on Monday, hosts Pajaro Valley on Wednesday and travels to Pebble Beach on Friday to battle the Stevenson Pirates.
